THE weather may well have played havoc with much of the spring but it has done little to diminish the quality of horses running in four-year-old maidens, a fact borne out by the impressive victory of Commander Of Fleet at Punchestown during the week.

That Fame And Glory gelding, who returned alone at Moig South, was an early litmus test as to the quality of this year’s crop as the first of the four-year-old maiden winners to appear under rules. It is certainly a test that was passed with flying colours as the bay gelding ran out an impressive winner of the €100,000 Goffs Land Rover Bumper on Tuesday by eight and-a-half lengths – the widest winning margin in the last 11 renewals of a race which has a very rich history. That win also came just one month to the day that he had won his point for Pat Doyle.